


Now and Then

by Joe_Reaves



Category: Empire Records (1995)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-10
Updated: 2010-04-10
Packaged: 2017-10-08 20:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/79265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joe_Reaves/pseuds/Joe_Reaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucas is more than he seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Now and Then

**Author's Note:**

> Co-written with [Lucas](http://verito295.livejournal.com/)

My name is Luca DeSantis. I was born in Italy, in the great city of Amalfi in 1380. I started training as a painter when I was but a child and my talent brought offers of patronage from some of the richest families by the time I was 10 years old. But my mother wanted me and my skills to be protected and to be assured I had the greatest freedom, so she refused them and chose instead the son of a family friend. Even though he was young, Giacomo ____ had already made a name for himself and my family knew he was a man of honor who would let nothing happen to me.

Giacomo was my world as I grew from a skinny adolescent to a man at the age of fifteen. I had loved him from the first moment I saw him but even back then I had known he was too honorable to take me so young. I waited, bade my time as my body grew and kept watching him every day as he took care of me, made sure my work was seen around the city and appreciated, thanks to the passion he had for it. It was only then, when I became a man, that he finally caved in and one night accepted me into his bed when I slipped under his covers, the moon our only witness.

We loved each other until our hearts nearly burst in happiness. It seemed like it was forever, but we only had shortly less then a year. One night a rich man came into our house and requested I work only for him, adding that he would take care of all my needs but that I would have to move into his villa. Giacomo refused, knowing that my work would hardly be seen outside his house and that my freedom would be limited at best.  
The man left enraged but we ignored him, thinking he was nothing, but the following night armed men came. They ran Giacomo through with their swords and took me away against my will as my heart was broken forever by the sight of my dying lover.

That night was the last one I saw with human eyes, that day the last one I would see for centuries to come. The rich man we had scorned turned me against my will into a vampire, like him. I thought that night would also be the last time I saw my love.

I was proven correct until now.

I am the Prince of New York, have been ever since I came over to the New World in 1643, when the plague spread over my great city and my grandsire sent me to the new lands, knowing that the surviving human population was already too taxed by the illness to support her entire Court. I was her closest childe at the time and she knew I could handle a Court of my own.

She sent me across the seas with a group of her most trusted men and vampires to establish our power in the virgin lands and once we disembarked that first night and I laid eyes on our new home, I fell in love with the wilderness of it, its untamed beauty so different from the busy streets of Amalfi.

My people and I thrived in the new land as I ruled with a just but steel hand. As more vampires crossed the waters of the Atlantic and founded their own Courts in the New World we remained the oldest and most respected House. Attacks and attempts to overthrow me came of course, from the outside and from my own Court, but my sixteen year old face always deceived them enough to let them underestimate me and my response was always swift and unmerciful.

Time passed, century after century until the present time. I usually interfere as little as I can with human business, their frenzied pace and superficiality usually not worth the trouble. I do make sure that their actions do not interfere with my Court's business and interests but otherwise we live in a parallel world of our own.

This continued until it all came to a crashing halt around me in the early years of the new millennium. A face that had only visited me in my most precious dreams over the last six hundred years walked right past me in the middle of Union Square Park on an early summer night.

My Giacomo…

He was back.

And I wasn't going to let him go this time, no matter what I had to do.

\-----

Up until tonight I thought I had a pretty good handle on things – on the world in general and my little corner of it in particular. I own an independent music shop in Fieldsboro and I have an eclectic group of strays and juvenile delinquents who work for me. Except tonight I found out that a completely different world exists alongside my own and one of my strays is a six hundred year old vampire…

Before tonight I would have said that Lucas was a pretty ordinary teenager. About 16 years of age, he's been working in the store for nearly a year. He came into my life with a bang, caught a young kid who had been shoplifting and dragged him back to the store so I could call the police. He grinned up at me and one look into those strangely adult eyes was all it took. I hired him on the spot and a week later he talked me into hiring one of his friends. They'd both skipped a couple of grades in school and were going to the local college. Their workload meant that they could only work nights but they were so good at their jobs that it worked out ok. Besides, after dark I preferred having them in the store to the girls; I felt they were better able to take care of themselves if necessary. Apparently much better!

Lucas offered to help me close this evening and I readily agreed. He's fun to be around. I like talking with him. The only problem is I'd like to be doing a lot more than talking and I thought he was too young. When the store was closed and the takings were in the safe he asked if he could talk to me and I thought he was going to make a pass, which I would have to reluctantly turn down. Well he was but he wanted to say a lot more than that…

\-----

It has been nearly a year and a half since I first saw Joe, my Giacomo, in New York on that summer evening. I followed him and made sure I found out everything I could about him, his life and his past. I had to wait for too many months before I could leave my Court in Debora's, my most trusted lieutenant, hands and dedicate my nights to pursuing him.

As expected AJ, my First Guard, flat out refused to let me go anywhere for any length of time without being there to watch my back so, in the course of a few short weeks we were both hired, or better yet adopted, by Joe's dysfunctional little Court.

It took me close to a year to overcome most of Joe's doubts about the strong attraction he immediately felt for me, Giacomo's heart crying out to me, and finally everything was in place. He was so close to giving in and I knew that all he needed was one more little push… the truth.

I cornered him that night in his office, pressed against his body until, as expected, he tried to push me back. He said I was too young and him too old, giving me exactly the opening I needed for my revelation.

"You see Joe, it's more like I'm the one robbing the cradle here," I whispered in his ear softly, my true nature showing in my glowing yellow cat eyes. "I'm 626 years old Joe. I was made a vampire in the year 1396, in Amalfi, one of the most beautiful cities in Italy."

\-----

I pulled back and stared at him "Lucas? What are you talking about? Don't be so stupid. How can you be 626 years old, you're just a child." I don't understand. Lucas occasionally talks rubbish but this is extreme, even for him. He's pressing against me and I can't think properly and his words make no sense to me. I shake my head as a vision of a room with a canopy bed flashes before my eyes.

His eyes are glowing and I shiver. "What the hell are you?"

\-----

"I'm a vampire, I've lived for hundreds of years and every day of that time I spent thinking I'd never find another like you." I pull back slightly, giving him a little breathing space, and turning around, one arm instinctively wrapping itself around his waist as I whisper in his ear. "One night I saw you in Union Square, nearly a year and a half ago. The glow of the street light made your hair look like flowing gold. You were beautiful, absolutely perfect and I had to see you again, and again."

\-----

I don't know what to make of that. I don't believe in vampires, but his eyes glow and I can't help but think he is telling the truth. Then the rest of it sinks in. I pull away from him, furious. "So you've been lying to me from the moment I hired you. Stalking me like some kind of creep and pretending to be something you aren't. Get the hell away from me!"

\-----

"Shhh, I'm sorry. I know, but would you have trusted me or even listened to me if I had told you that night? Or when I caught your little shoplifter?" I reach out for him, my fingers only a few inches away from him. I know the final step has to be his. "You would have laughed at me or maybe run for your life but you know you would not have taken me seriously then, not the way you do now."

\-----

"About you being a vampire? No, I wouldn't have believed you, I'm not entirely sure I do now, but the rest of it? Stalking me, spying on me, pretending to be something you're not to get me where you want me… I don't even know who you are." I want to hold him, I feel a soul deep need to be with him, but he betrayed my trust and I do not know if I can forgive that.

\-----

"Please, I really am sorry. I swear if there had been any other choice I would have done things differently but I needed you to get to know me first before you knew about me." It hurt every day I lied to him but this was by far the least drastic solution I had come up with since I was quite sure he would have objected to being outright kidnapped. "I just could not risk spooking you from the start, I can't lose you."

\-----

"This is all about you! What you wanted, what you said. What about me? Or didn't my feelings come into it?" I shouted. "You saw me, you wanted me, so you stalked me and lied to me. Did it even occur to you that I might not want you? I don't even know you. The person I was attracted to is a figment of your imagination." I sighed sadly. "I liked that Lucas and now you're telling me he doesn't exist."

\-----

Slowly I kneel in front of his feet, my palms flat against my thighs and my head hanging low, in supplication. I have not kneeled in front of anyone or begged for anything since the day I betrayed my sire and then pleaded with my grandsire to let me claim his life as mine for Giacomo's murder. "I understand this does not heal the hurt I caused you but I love you and I didn't know how else to come to you without either being pushed away or scaring you off. I beg you to give me a second chance, a chance to show you everything I am."

\-----

I can't stay angry with him kneeling there, looking so sad, begging me not to walk away. "Stand up," I tell him softly. "Promise me you won't lie to me again. I need to know I can trust you." I hold out a hand to him and pull him to his feet. "Explain," I say. "You say you love me, but you didn't even know me when you started following me. Why me? Why were you so desperate to be close to me?"

\-----

I look up into his eyes and whisper softly, "Because I have known you before." I don't have to close my eyes for the memories to flood back, the happiest ones first up until to the last one I have of him, lying in a pool of his own blood but still trying to reach me, protect me from our attackers. "I knew you before I was made a vampire, we were lovers then… before you were taken away from me."

\-----

I can't help but pull him into my arms; his voice is so full of heartbreak and fear. I wrap my arms around him as if I can keep him safe from his memories. I tilt his head up so I can look into his eyes, intending to ask what he means, how could I have met him over 600 years ago? But instead I find myself caught by the emotion in them. Before I even know where the words are coming from I'm speaking. "Hush, little one, I promise, no one will take me from you again."

\-----

I can see my Giacomo's soul shining through Joe's beautiful eyes and I know that things are going to be alright. I rest my head on his chest, his heartbeat soothing my fears and calming my troubled soul for the first time in over 600 years. "I need to show you all of me, my world, everything that happened over the last six centuries. Will you let me? Trust me just one more time and let me explain as best as I can?"

\-----

I sigh. I really, really want to still be mad at him, but I have a deep need to protect him and make him smile and I just can't keep hold of my anger. "What do you mean? Show me how, Lucas?" I ask him. I'm still stroking his hair, I can't seem to stop. "What's happening to me? I can't stop touching you and what I said just now, I didn't mean to say it. I don't remember even thinking it, it just came out. What are you doing to me?" I ask in concern. I feel like I'm losing control of myself.

\-----

I reach out and pull back slightly as I gently caress his hair and tuck a stray strand behind his ear. "Just take a deep breath Joe, I know it is a lot to take in but some of what you're feeling right now is because you are starting to remember your life back in Amalfi. Giacomo used to call me his little one whenever we were alone." I remember with a small smile, I used to pretend I didn't like it because I was so proud to finally be a man, but deep down I melted every time he called me that. "There is a way for me to show you all you want to know. If you allow me, if you permit me to drink your blood, I would be able to use that connection."

\-----

"I don't…" I shake my head in confusion. I don't know what's going on and I don't like it. I feel overwhelmed by the emotions running through me. Breathing deeply I decide to trust him once more. I nod slightly. "Whatever you want, Lucas. Despite everything, I do trust you, Lucas." I'm nervous at the idea of him drinking my blood, what if he tries to hurt me? But I believe that he means me no harm and if this will help me understand him then I'm willing to take the risk. "You can drink from me. Show me what you want to show me."

\-----

I stand up and gently pull him with me towards the couch before kneeling at his side and stroking his neck and cheek softly. "You are just amazing Joe, I nearly screwed things up and you are still willing to trust me." I breathe deeply before leaning closer and gently kissing the soft skin of his neck. "Just relax love, it's going to hurt for one moment, when I break the skin, but then it's going to make you feel good." I lick the delicate hollow between his shoulder and his neck and whisper how much I love him before slipping my fangs into his flesh.

\-----

I shiver slightly when he kisses my neck. Part of my mind is still saying he's a child and we shouldn't be doing this, but the rest of me is too involved in the sensations Lucas is creating. When he bites down it hurts, but before I can do more than gasp in pain my mind is flooded with thoughts and feelings not my own. The first images are of a large canopy bed in a light room. I see a man, me and yet… not, through Lucas' eyes. I can feel how much Lucas loves him and I can see how his face lights up when Lucas looks at him. At the same time memories of my own begin to surface, memories of a life a long time ago when I was an Italian nobleman and Lucas, Luca, was my lover, the light of my life.

\-----

The memories flood my mind, even stronger now because of Joe's blood. I can feel his own memories resurfacing slowly but it's like I'm trapped in history, reliving the months we spent together up until the night I lost him. I don't want to show him that, no one should see their own death more then once. I'm the stronger one this time and he's a stranger still to my world. It's my duty to shelter and protect him. With a gasp I pull back, cradling Joe's body against mine as I try to regain unneeded breath.

\-----

I slump against him in amazement. "My Luca, my little one. I remember, I loved you so much and I wanted to protect you, keep you safe so you could paint and never have to worry." I shiver. "Someone wanted to take you away from me, he wanted you for himself. He came back… What happened, Luca? What did he do?"

\-----

My arms tighten around him and I kiss his neck again, lapping gently at the wound to help it seal. I know I'm trying to avoid his question but if I close my eyes the only thing I can see right now is his body lying in a pool of blood that to my sixteen year old eyes looked impossibly large. With a sigh I rest my forehead against his shoulder, refusing to show him the pain the memories cause me. "His men came to our house; they killed you and took me to their master. He became my sire, made me a vampire that same night. In our world humans are usually brought over with their consent and with preparation, they know what they are getting themselves into and what is expected of them. My sire turned me and then locked me up in a room for hours, days, I will never be sure. When they finally opened the door they sent two street children in…" Children's blood is pure and strong and usually reserved only for special times or when a vampire needs strength to heal from the gravest of wounds. Children are never killed, we only take what little blood we need and the child is rewarded and kept safe for the rest of his life. "The next thing I remember is seeing their unmoving bodies on the floor in front of me, their faces pale as ghosts."

\-----

Oh God. I pull him even closer. "That's horrible. You killed them?" I press a kiss to his hair. "It wasn't your fault, love. I know you wouldn't have done it if you had a choice." I shiver. How could anyone do that to him, he was barely more than a child himself. "You got away from him though and now what? You want to turn me? Make me like you? Because I don't know if I can do that. I don't want to lose you either, but… I don't know if I want to become like you."

\-----

I pull back and look into his eyes, smiling as I see part of my Giacomo still there. "There are other ways. Vampires and humans can bind to each other; sometimes just for feeding, other times because of a deep friendship. The binding makes both of them stronger and creates a connection between the two. There are different depths of binding and the stronger is very rarely seen, in my six hundred years I've only ever met one fully bound pair." As he listens intently Giacomo's presence slowly draws back until he is only a tiny flicker. I can't help myself any longer though and I lean closer once again, rubbing my cheek softly against Joe's 5 o'clock shadow. "Once the vampire places the fourth and final mark, they become nearly as one. The human acquires the vampire's strength and immortality and the vampire the power to walk by his side in daylight, his own strength increased tenfold."

\-----

He's nuzzling against me like a kitten and although I want to talk about this more, know I need to find out more about his world before making my final decision, right now all I want is to take him to bed and make love to him. I turn my head slightly and kiss him, exploring his mouth slowly and thoroughly. "I love you, my Lucas. I need to think about this, learn more about your world, but right now … I want you. Come home with me and let me love you?"

\-----

Even after six hundred years his voice alone sends shivers down my spine, his words giving me the hope to feel whole again after so long. "I was ready to follow you in death once your murder was avenged," I tell him with a soft smile, the pain of losing him soothed by the fact that he was back in my arms. "I'll wait for as long as it will take for you to make a decision my heart, and show you anything you want about myself and my world." With a soft sigh I kiss his neck again, over the spot where my bite mark has just faded away. I know I promised I'll wait, but I'm glad I've had six hundred years to learn patience because all I want to do right now is to take him right here on his desk and give him the first mark before taking him back to my Court and never letting him go. Thankfully I've learnt to bade my time over the centuries and I'm not the eager man/child I used to be at sixteen… that and the idea of finally feeling Giacomo inside me again makes the blood boil in my veins. I get up with a pang of regret and offer him my hand. "Let's go home my heart, I want to lie in your arms once again like we used to." The smile on my face can only feel like a pale companion to the shining happiness I see glowing bright through his eyes.

\-----

This feels more right than anything I've ever known. I stand up and pull him close, kissing him. "Tomorrow I'll arrange for someone to take over the shop for a few days and we'll go to your home and you can teach me about your world. But for now ..." I kiss him again and pull him towards the door. "I need you. I have all these memories rushing through my mind and you're there in all of them. I want to look after you, protect you, and most of all I want to make love to you."

\-----

"As much as memories are a life line, and believe me I know, I've lived on them for over six hundred years, there is nothing as amazing as the feel of your skin against mine, my heart," I whisper with a smile as I stop for a moment to kiss the inside of his wrist. We walk out of the back of the store and on to the narrow street where Joe usually parks and with a sigh I notice AJ's glowing eyes in the darkness of the vehicle's shadow. "AJ go home, everything is fine. I'll call you tomorrow morning." I turn to Joe blushing slightly as my First Guard disappears soundlessly into the night. "I apologise for the intrusion but AJ tends to be a little too protective of me at times."

\-----

I lean over and kiss him gently, still marveling at the fact that I am allowed to. I have wanted to touch him like this for so long. "It's all right. I have the feeling you probably attract trouble, I'm glad AJ is there to watch out for you. But from now on, that's my job. I'm not going to try and replace AJ, since he knows your world so much better than I do, but anyone who wants to harm you is going to have to come through me. I refuse to lose you again."

\-----

I can feel my cheeks heat up and that just makes me blush even more. I swear this is one of the things I would have really been glad to lose when I became a vampire but I guess no such luck. "You do realize that I'm the one with six hundred years experience in staying alive?" I ask with a soft smile. "It's my turn to keep you safe and protected, love." I raise my hands to stop the protest I can see bubbling on his lips. "But since I know you, I also know that you'll do what you see fit to keep me safe, so I only ask you that if you do decide to embark in any crazy stunt, you at least take my guards… because I, just like you, won't be able to stand losing you again. I swear I would follow this time."

\-----

I cup his face. His blushing is so endearing, especially now that I know how old and experienced he is. "I have no intention of running off to fight your enemies, I know that would be foolish, but if anyone comes after you...." I kiss him again. "I don't remember much of my first life with you, not yet, just impressions and feelings, but I know I didn't regret dying to try and protect you, only that it wasn't enough." I press up against him. "Now take me home, love. I want to be with you and then I want you to show me the world I'm going to be surrounded by when you bond with me."

\-----

I cling to him for a moment, just holding him tightly and savoring the fact he's back in my arms for good. "I love you my heart, it doesn't matter if the memories of your old life ever come back or not. We'll make new ones that won't fade this time." One more soft kiss and I pull back. "I promise, tomorrow we can go back to New York and I'll show you my Court." As I slip into the passenger seat my heart is singing, Joe is going to be mine, be by my side for the rest of eternity. With the two of us together no one is ever going to be able to touch us. This time we are going to have forever to love each other.


End file.
